whitish smoke

[honkeyman]

I have a 1994 Toyota Camry with only 30,000 miles that I inherited from an aunt. I have been driving it a lot lately and have fixed a few very minor things on it like a couple belts and put on new tires. One thing is still annoying me. I can't figure out why it sends out a single puff cloud of smoke only when it is started up for the first time all day. It is more smoke than simply from condensation, but does not last any amount of time and does not smoke while driving at all. I have changed the oil, plugs and wires, cap and rotor, and had a coolant flush. The oil was really dirty when I changed it. Should I change the oil again and use one of those products that cleans out the engine before you drain the oil? Since it has such low mileage and was driven gently I don't think that the valve seals/ stems could be leaking, or could they be decaying and rotten? Do the fuel injectors simply need to be cleaned, and would a can of fuel injector cleaner work or should I take it to jiffy lube for this? Thanks a lot for the help. I would appreciate it before I go spending $1000 to replace engine seals.

[Brian R.]

If I were you, I would just change the oil every 3000 miles and drive it as it is. If the smoking gets worse, then start saving your money. If you drive it daily, it might be something that seals itself.

[honkeyman]

is this something that can be easily fixed though, if the valve seals turn out not to be the culprit? and what would you suggest doing to try to fix it?

[Brian R.]

I don't think it is likely to be the valve seals, seeing how you get white smoke. To me, this indicates a head gasket leak where some coolant gets pushed into one or more of the cylinders after you shut off the engine and the cooling system is still pressurized. Must be small.

I guess you could be misidentifying the smoke and it could be the valve seals, but not if it's white. Yes, valve seals are fairly easily fixed. Like I said, leave it go for a month or so with daily driving, and see if it changes. Fixing it would entail simply replacing the valve seals. You can do this without removing the head.

Could also be something that is simply a result of neglect and may fix itself given some time and normal oil change intervals.

[Toysrme]

Two cans of seafoam (clean the intake 3 times, the second can 1/2 goes in the fuel tank on a fill up, 1/2 in with fresh oil). forget about it until it smokes more often.

White is water vapor. Only way that get's in is the head gasket, or it condensates there for whatever reason.

Maybe oil vapor, or unburnt gasoline blowing out.

[honkeyman]

ok thanks for the suggestions, its definitely whitish smoke, not blue, and i changed the oil again running the car with engine cleaner before i did the oil change. it seemed to clean the engine decently as the oil was really dirty. the smoke was less when i started it up today. i guess i can get the fuel injector cleaned and see if that does anything, and if not ill see about replacing the head gasket seal because I would really liuke to fix this problem, even though its not that big of a problem according to what ive heard.

[Joe W]

Don't change the head gasket just for the fun? of it. Pressure-test the cooling system and look at the condition of the individuat spark plugs for more insight.

[Toysrme]

Always compression check before a headgasket change.

Ya never know when it could just be a block cracked (Which is unspeakably rare in the Toyota world as most blocks are laffably overbuilt for their application.)

[amerikim]

All Camrys I know, especially if they are parked outside at night, start with a puff of white. It's condensation in the exhaust pipe itself - nothing to worry about.
I would be more concerned about how the car was looked after even if it has low milage. Do you notice your car consuming coolant?

[ctuagent117]

listen all camrys do this i dunno y they just do leave it alone.